Distributor for ignition of internal combustion engines



Dec. 15, 1942. MacGlLLlVRAY 2,305,018

DISTRIBUTOR FOR IGNITION OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed May 9, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l 30 M 32 36" 50 i 1 76 2 34 74 46 #2 Q 1 m g 22 1 I 42 47 /0 ZZi WT K ATTORNEY.

Dec. 15, 1942. A. F. MaCGILLIVRAY 2,305,018

DISTRIBUTOR FOR IGNITION OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed May 9, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 409/5 F Nat (QM ray ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 15, 1942 DISTRIBUTOR FOR IGNITION OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Angus F. MacGillivray, Watertown, Mass. Application May 9, 1939, Serial No. 272,615

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in distributors for ignition of internal combustion engines.

More particularly it provides an appliance whereby the distributor points and plate may be reached, observed and adjusted while the engine is running; this to be done without disconnecting the distributor wires from the regular distributor ead.

Heretofore, the settin and the adjusting of distributor points, to make a correct timing of ignition in the cylinders of an internal combustion engine, have involved a trial-and-error procedure of removing the distributor head or cap, making a guess adjustment, replacing the head, and then starting the engine a and observing whether the timing is what is wanted. If the adjustment has not made the timing correct, the procedure of. stopping engine, removing head, making tentative adjustment, replacing head, again starting engine, and observing, has had to be repeated, and then again repeated, until the timing is satisfactory. Or, by another procedure, a special extra head has been substituted for the regular head, made like the regular head except that the extra head has openings through its walls, through which the interior can be reached while the engine is running. But use of such an extra head involves the disconnecting of the distributor wires from the regular ahead, and the connecting of them to the test head; and requires a subsequent reversal of this procedure and reconnecting to the regular head after the timing has been correct. This is subject to the objection that the room available for working through the openin in the extra head is very limited. And it introducesthe risk that wrong electrical connections of the six or eight wires may be made.

The invention provides a frame for temporary introduction into the regular distributor while separating the head from the body of the distributor to any desired and convenient distance, yet operating them by a running of the engine while they are thus separated; and the separation is effected in such a way that ample space is provided for easy access to the distributor points and plate while the engine is running, and without any wire connection having been changed.

It provides an extension of the distributor rotor shaft to the head in its distant location, and a mount for the head, so that the usual functions are performed in the usual operative relation of wires, head and rotor and spark-advancing plate.

Notable features involved in the improvement are the said separating of head from body; the avoidance of disconnecting and reconnecting of the distributor wires; the temporary mounting of the head at a distance without possibility of any angular shifting of the relation of head to body, so that testing in the separated position will represent truly the action that will be experienced after the separation has ceased; and the extending of the .rotor shaft to the place where the removed head is mounted, so as to cooperate in producing these results.

Use of the invention reduces greatly the time required for making observations and tests of an automobile engine as to the correctness of timing of cylinder ignition, and facilitates the adjusting of points to precise accuracy, for maximum performance of the engine.

It is, moreover, an important feature that the invention provides for attaining the said objects and results, and others which are incidental to the construction described, by inexpensive and simple means which may be inserted between the body and the head of the distributor.

The structure herein proposed for temporary installation is suitable for automobiles as they are now built, with compactly closed distributor shells; but the distributor might be made with permanent spacing as here disclosed, for any engine having suflicient room under its hood, if removable protection were provided against entrance of dust and other-foreign matter.

According to the invention a frame, acting as a, spacer, is provided, to fit as an insertion between the body and the head of a distributor.

This frame, in the style which is illustratively described in this specification, in which the separation of head from body is relatively short although ample, being of the order of two or three inches, comprises a unit insertible between body and head, in which a ring base takes the place of the head on the body, and a crest ring spaced from the first ring by legs takes the place of the body under the head. Another unit constitutes an extension of the rotor shaft, so that the usual rotary element in the head is raised to a level corresponding to that of the raised head. ,The distributive points are elevated with thehead; the cam and spark making points remain with the body and can be easily observed and reached through the spaces between the legs, and between the rings. The head is rigid on the upper ring; the extension oi. shaft is rigid on the rotating shaft; and the elements in body and in head are each in the predetermined relation to other parts which exist when the head and body are together. Thus the working of the parts in the temporary testing and adjusting locations will be the same as when the parts are later returned to their normal locations.

This spacing apart of the distributor body and distributor head provides ample room for observing operations within the distributor, and for making desired adjustments therein. Also it becomes feasible and convenient to provide a scale of angular measure adjacent to the uncovered interior of the distributor body. A pointer can be set on the extension of rotor shaft to sweep along this scale, for coaction therewith stroboscopically to facilitate a proper adjustment of points and the attaining of accurate timing.

The observation, and all tests, can be made with the motor running and with the stroboscopic light showing the position of the pointer at the instant of spark. If adjustment requiring insertion of a tool is desired, this can be done as soon as the motor is stopped; and the motor can be started again immediately; the hitherto usual steps of disconnecting; removing and carrying to bench for the adjusting; carrying back; and reconnecting, being eliminated. If the introduced pointer is in the way of the tool the pointer can be taken out during the adjusting.

It is practicable to space the distributor head at any distance from the distributor body within the reach of the wires, provided the rotor shaft is equally extended, and provided the regular angular relation between head and shaft and body is maintained in the spaced position.

It is intended that the patent shall cover by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a distributor with its body and head cap in normal operative position;

Figure 2 is a similar view, but with the distributor head spaced away from its body, and with the rotor contact correspondingly shifted along the axis of the distributor, according to the invention;

Figure 3 is a top plan of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an elevation of the upper portion' of Figure 2, in section on 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an elevation looking from the right in Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a plan in section on 6-8 of Figure 2, with wiring diagram indicative of the electrical connections, including, in dotted lines, a volt meter, and a stroboscopic light, either of which may be connected for making certain tests;

Figure "l is a detail plan in section on 1-1 of Figure 4;

Figure 8 is a detail plan in section on H of Figure 4, the interior elements, as seen in Figure 6, being omitted; and

Figure 9 is a perspective of the upper portion of a head-spacing frame having a bearing for the shaft extension.

Ignition distributors for automobile and other multicylinder engines are so standardized in types that a portrayal of any of the common types will illustrate the applying of the invention to any other.

Referring to the drawings, the distributor body II and its shell head l2 represent one type of ordinary and well known construction, wherein a rotor element II has its contact arm I! continuously in contact with a terminal of the high tension socket ll of the head, and this arm successively passes the terminals of the wire sockets It, whose wires (not shown) each lead to one of the spark plugs of the engine.

The ordinary rotor shaft 20 of such a distributor ends in the shell body, having there a notch 22, seen dotted in Figure 2, for receiving a key lug 24 of the rotor element ll, which carries the contact arm Ii, so that this notch and key lock together the rotor shaft in the body and the rotor element in the head. The rim, of the cup constituting the distributor body II, has a notch 2| for receiving a key lug 2| on tLe head, for assuring the predetermined setting of the head on the distributor body. Clamps 42 hold the, liftable head locked down in the notches.

For the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a spacing frame unit 30 is to be inserted between the distributor body I! and its head l2; and a shaft extension 32 is to be inserted between the rotor shaft 20 and the rotor element I so that this element becomes raised equally with the head. The frame may comprise two rings 34, I8 suitably spaced apart vertically by two or more side legs 28 which are struts. The lower ring 24 is of size and shape to fit the rim of the distributor body precisely as the head [2 normally fits it; and it has a key lug 40 for engaging in notch 26 for setting the position of the spacer relative to the body. The spring clamps 42 which normally secure the head on the body are utilized to secure the spacer 2|] thereon.

The upper ring 36 of the spacer is of size and shape to constitute a seat for the head I2 precisely as that head is normally seated on the distributor body Hi, and to that end it has a notch in line with the key lug ll of the lower ring 24, for receiving the key lug 28 of the head.

Similarly the extension 22 for the rotor shaft is shaped at its lower end to fit on the end of shaft 20 precisely as the rotor element ll normally fits it, with a key lug 4i engaging in the notch 22 of the shaft. The upper end of extension 32 is shaped like the end of the shaft 20, and so can receive rotor element ll, with the key lug 24 of that element engaging in a notch 48 in the upper end of extension 32.

Spring clamps III on the legs of the spacer, similar to the clamps 42 on the distributor body. can engage over the ears 52 on the head, for

holding the head on the spacer, as it normally is held on the body il.

Figure 6 of the drawings shows parts within the distributor body 10, including the usual points 52, 54 whose opening and closing is controlled by the octagonal cam element I. on the rotor shaft, the illustrated embodiment being for an eight cylinder engine, through the medium of a cam rider SI, of insulating material, on lever I, which carries the point 54, and is constantly urged by spring 82 toward the axis of the shaft, against the cam 58, said spring serving also as a conductor of electricity from the wire II to the lever 60.

The other point 2 is carried on another lever 64, swingable about the same pivot 80, which lever is adapted to be secured and fixed, by a set screw 68, in the position to which it is adjusted by eccentric 88'. The engine may be operated with the head in the elevated position, and with the distributor points 52, 5| exposed; and adjustment can be effected by one reaching through the ample space provided between the rings and the legs.

Referring to Figure 6, the wiring diagram indicates, in full lines, an ordinary ignition system of an engine. The system includes the battery 80 whose circuit leads through ammeter If and ignition switch 84 to the coil 8i and thence to the binding screw it on the side of the distributor, from which screw this primary circuit leads to the distributor points 52, N. The high tension'secondary circuit of the coil 8. leads to the central socket of the distributor head. The other sockets of the distributor head are connected to the several spark plugs II.

For testing the setting of the distributor points, any of various devices may be employed. In Figure 6 a volt meter is shown by dotted lines at 92, connected in parallel with the circuit to the points. When the points are properly spaced, it is considered good practice that, with a six volt circuit, the volt meter should read 2.7-2.8 volts, for an eight cylinder engine, and the points may be adjusted while the engine is running, to obtain the proper reading.

Also the spark advance of the plate ll may be observed and regulated; The levers 80 and N are the usual levers of the distributor head mounted as usual on the plate I. and can be moved more or less around the axis of the rotor shaft either by suction, application of which is indicated at 12,.or by a centrifugal governor or otherwise, the present invention being applicable with any of the approved systems of automatic control in the distributor to advance or to retard the spark. Whatever the system may be, the invention affords easy access for observing and adlusting. Supplementary to whatever system is found in the distributor, the described spacing makes it feasible to provide the illustrated scale of degrees 14 on the lower ring I4, fixed relative to the distributor body. A pointer I. may be mounted removably on the extension I! of the rotor shaft, for coacting with this scale. By employing a stroboscopic light 94, as in Figure 8,

the degree of advance of the spark at diii'erent speeds may be seen precisely with reference to the scale 14, and suitable adjustments can follow, the pointer being removed if necessary. For testing the advance of spark under various operating speeds, the position of the pointer on scale II is first observed at idling speed, by means of the stroboscopic light. Then the pointer is observed at various higher speeds, showing the advance or retardation of the spark at the respective speeds, and giving full information as to the effect of the vacuum mechanism in setting the spark. Whatever the specifications for the particular engine may happen to be, they can be filled while observing on scale ll.

The spacer unit 3. and the shaft extension I! can be quicklyinserted,aftermerelyopeningthe body portions respectively containing distributing apparatus-and breaker points, and electrical connections; including connection from the head to the body; said appliance comprising a frame for interlocking insertion between the head and the body, spacing the head and the body apart while the said electrical connections continue unchanged; 'and an extension. shaft for interlocking insertion between the rotary element of the head and thenormal end of the rotor shaft in the body; the interlockings being by formation and ail location such as to fix the head and the body in the same angular position relative to each other when they are spaced apart as when they are together; and the frame having a side opening to the interior of the body.

2. A distributor for ignition sparks comprising in combination a body shell containing a rotor shaft, timing cam, riding lever and breaker points; a head shell containing a rotary element and distributive electrical terminals; and electrical connections including connections from the head shell to the body shell; combined with a spacing frame intervening between the two said shells, holding them at a distance apart sufiicient' for visual and manipulative sidewise access to the interior of the said body while the said electrical connections continue unchanged; and a shaft, being an'extension of the rotor shaft, extending from the saidcaminthebody alongthesaiddistance through the frame to the rotary element inthe head; said frame havingasideopening providing for said access, and there being interlocking connections between the frame, head and body and between said extension shaft, rotor element and rotor shaft, having formation and locationsuchastoiixtheheadandthebody,and

the rotor element and rotor shaft, in the same angular positions relative to each other when they are spacedapartaswhentheyaretogctber.

s. An appliance for a distributor of ignition sparks as in claim 1 wherein the said frame comprisestworingswithsidestrutsspacingsaidrings apart, and wherein one of said rings has a scale of angularmeasure,andsaidextcnsionofthe rotorshafthas'apointeri'orcoactingwiththe ANGUS I. lhcGIL-LIVRAY. 

